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Art can inspire so an artist should be inspiring. An artist should be a perpetual student. An artist should nurture and cultivate creativity whenever and wherever possible. An artist can practice professionally for the commercial arts for his/her livelihood. An artist is on a constant path of growth. An artist creates from what is intrinsic within them.

All these things are true and valid, and can be summed up in one word: Independence.

I‘ve said in interviews that an artist never stops being one at 5pm. It is an endeavor that is all encompassing and constant. Some of us will work for studios, companies and the like and provide them with our expertise and experience. This fulfills the need to collaborate and perform as part of a collective. In that process we give our best effort and willingly contribute our ideas and skill. But the other half of us needs to remain true to our own set of artistic principles. That half will travel uncharted water and experiment and learn. More importantly, our inherent need to find uniqueness is what will drive us forward.

We are are the summation of all our experiences, our beliefs, our upbringing. This makes us unique as humans. Consequently, as artists it is up to us to use these factors to create our own voice. Our brand. Our identity. Being independent means we subscribe to our own principles. We march to our own cadence. We make our own decisions. It’s only then that we can get a sense of what kind of artists we are, how much of our own artistic future we will control and most of all, how we value ourselves as artists.